The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
VOLUME 138 NO. 51
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
In 1973, The Miami Student reported Miami University’s Board of Trustees had approved the distribution of gynecological services through the Student Health Center. The bill said the services of a gynecologist could be used but contraceptives could not be distributed.
Miami weighs partial privatization By Jenni Wiener Campus Editor
All the talk about “charter universities” has raised a ruckus around the campus of Miami University. A group of faculty, staff, students, community members and representatives from other public universities, including the University of Cincinnati, gathered at a “teachin” April 7 to discuss the ramifications of Miami’s potential to be a “charter university.” Becoming a “charter university” entails less state funding of the public university in exchange for less regulation by the state. This is basically a form of privatization of public universities, according to Kathleen Knight- Abowitz, professor of education at Miami.
With less money from the state, the university has two options: finding funds somewhere else or operating the university with less money, said Professor Richard Quantz. “Every year the state informs the university of the maximum amount they are allowed to raise tuition,” Quantz said. “If that regulation were to be taken away, then the university would be permitted to raise its tuition as much as it thought it could get away with in the marketplace.” He went on to say there is also a rule regulating the number of students on the Oxford campus. Without this cap, there could potentially be bigger class sizes and more students. Another way to make up for the lack of funding would be to pay the labor less, reduce benefits or
eliminate jobs, Quantz said. learning process. “We regulate for one of two reaToday, 8 percent of students in the sons either to protect the public’s United States attend charter schools. interest or to protect However, according the vulnerable,” to Johnson, the moQuantz said. “A public university tive has changed. Teaching Associ“It used to be a means shared collaborative efate Brent Johnson problems and fort but now is a said the idea of interests. It should competitive effort “charter schools,” meaning elemen- serve the public and between the public tary schools, midschool and the charbe affordable.” dle schools and ter,” Johnson said. high schools, is “Based on data, reKATHLEEN KNIGHT25 to 30 years old. ports and informaABOWITZ It was originally tion that compares PROFESSOR proposed, “to best the two types of experiment with schools and stuteaching techniques and increase dents, there is little to no difference. students’ scores,” Johnson said. The Outcomes seem to favor the tradifounder wanted to do away with bu- tional school. We haven’t seen the reaucracy that would hold back the results we have been promised.”
The state of Virginia has a chartertype system now, instituted six years ago, said Knight-Abowitz. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is one of the few “charter universities” in the United States and experienced a 24 percent tuition increase this past year. “A public university means shared problems and interests,” KnightAbowitz said. “It should serve the public and be affordable.” Professor Dennis Carlson and Associate Professor Denise Baszile agreed action needs to be taken against “charter universities.” “We are in difficult times right now,” Baszile said. “I encourage students and faculty to think of what it means to be
wSee CHARTER, page 5
Off to see the wizard
ANDREW BRAY The Miami Student
The cast of The Wiz performs this weekend. The play will also be performed April 14 through April 17. Go to miamistudent.net to read a review of the performance.
SPECIAL REPORTS
Editor Amanda Seitz specialreports@miamistudent.net
PART 1 OF 2
Athletic department depends on student fee money By Noëlle Bernard Editorial Editor
This year, Miami University raked in nearly $29 million to benefit athletics, facilities, health services and student organizations through general fee charges listed obscurely in every student’s tuition bill. Inside the roughly $12,189 instate students paid for the 20102011 tuition charge or the $26,988 for out-of-state lies a $1,774 general fee. Since the state does not allow a university to allocate tuition toward non-educational services or buildings, the general fee serves as a way to raise money for areas the university believes enhances education. “The biggest portion is what we call tuition which is broken up into two pieces,” said Vice President of Finance and Business Services David Creamer. “The biggest would be what we call the instructional fee and that’s the part that relates most closely to your academic programs. The second part of that tuition is the general fee.” The general fee has steadily risen over the last four years averaging an increase of about $37 each year. Ultimately, in-state students put forth about 15 percent of their tuition to pay for general fees, while out-of-state students pay about
6.5 percent of their tuition. The fee specifically accounts for the expenditures of Intercollegiate Athletics, the Recreational Sports Center, Millett Assembly Hall, the Shriver Center, the Goggin Ice Center, parking, student facilities, Student Health Services, student organizations, Student Affairs Council, lecture and artists and musical organizations. These expenses are found within each student’s tuition, therefore meaning that each student is paying to benefits of the allocated services. “It’s really the other things that broaden the kind of experience you have here but it’s not as closely tied to the educational experience,” Creamer said. “The belief is that it is enhancing your educational experience but its not directly connected to that degree you pursue.” Students have been paying roughly the same amount on the Goggin Ice Arena since 2003, according to Associate Athletic Director Steve Cady. The fee, which accounts for $156 of each student’s payment, pays for the upkeep of the building. While donations helped to build Goggin, the building still derives some of its funding from students. “Where some of the money is coming from fundraising, some of the money was determined that it would come from (the general fee),” Creamer said. “The same thing will be eventually
Go to miamistudent.net to check out your estimated student fees for the 2011-2012 year using our student fee calculator. true for the Armstrong Student Center but not until it opens. Unfortunately, these decisions get made by students back in a point of time but they obligate students for years because the cost will go on for 25 or 30 years.” On the same token, John D. Millett Hall was built in 1968 and students are still paying virtually the same amount of fees for this building, 43 years later. Creamer also attributes this steady cost to the upkeep of Millett. Within the general fee, the largest expenditures come from intercollegiate athletics, the Recreational Sports Center and Goggin Ice Arena. These services and facilities require the most money from the general fee because of their large size and direct connection to majority of students, Creamer said. “The law requires anything that’s a dedicated student facility, not instructional or research in nature, that it must be separated out and treated under the general
fee,” Creamer said. “The state actually doesn’t provide any support for those particular facilities.” Intercollegiate athletics sucks up over half of the general fee with each student paying $909 this year. According to Jason Lener, deputy director for intercollegiate athletics, the money from the general fee is used to fuel the department in almost all areas. “The general fee goes to helping us run our athletic department,” Lener said. “Now we generate a little more than $5 million of our own revenue through ticket sales, fundraising,
corporate sponsorships and grants that we get from the NCAA for just having division one athletics and parking. The rest of our department is funded through the general fee.” Yet, Miami’s high numbers stand out in comparison to other NCAA Division I schools that use general fees to support athletics. “The reason why our number is so high if you compare us to some of the other schools in our conference is because we have one of the lower enrollments,” Lener said.
wSee FEES, page 5